Hunter Page-Lochard plays Koen West, a small-time smuggler who inherits the mantle of Cleverman, a spiritual conduit between the Dreaming and present, after his Uncle Jimmy is killed by a Namorrodor spirit. The six-part first season drops this reluctant hero into a racially charged dystopia where Hairypeople, covered in thick hair and speaking Gumbaynggirr, are corralled into the Zone six months after Emergence Day. Koen’s half-brother Waruu, played by Rob Collins, is the Zone’s activist leader who expected the Cleverman power for himself and begins dosing himself with a serum that turns Hairies human, trading their DNA for government favour.
Season two widens the war. Iain Glen’s corporate predator Jarrod Slade perfects a sap that can cut the indestructible Nulla Nulla war club, while pregnant wife Charlotte discovers her foetus carries Hairy DNA. The Inclusion Initiative offers Hairies a Faustian bargain: shave, speak English, disappear. Jarli, a Bindawu warrior, answers with bullets. Koen learns to fire the Blue Blast that severs soul from body, and in the final confrontation breathes in Waruu’s muya before both collapse, leaving the future of two species hanging on one dying man’s choice.
Weta Workshop designed the Hairypeople under Jacob Nash’s direction, giving them elongated nails, dense body hair and 200-year lifespans. Shot single-camera between Sydney and rural New South Wales, the series spoke Gumbaynggirr on screen and averaged 452,000 Australian viewers for its 2016 premiere, dropping to 114,000 by the finale. It ended after twelve episodes, winning the 2016 AWGIE for science-fiction writing.
Production Details
ABC TV / 2 Seasons / 12 Episodes / 2016
Created by: Leah Purcell, Wayne Blair
Showrunner(s): Sally Riley, Adam Fratto, Ben Grant
Writer(s): Jon Bell, Michael Miller
Producer(s): Ryan Griffen
Music: Daniel Rankine
Main Cast
Hunter Page-Lochard as Koen West
Iain Glen as Jarrod Slade
Rob Collins as Waruu West
Frances O'Connor as Charlotte Cleary
Deborah Mailman as Aunty Linda
Ryan Corr as Blair Finch
Stef Dawson as Ash Kerry
Tasma Walton as Araluen
Tony Briggs as Boondee
Jada Alberts as Nerida
Tamala Shelton as Alinta
Rarriwuy Hick as Latani
